The facility is one of Hampshire’s three state-of-the-art facilities run by Veolia Environmental Services which play a major role in helping the County divert 87% of the county’s household waste away from landfill.
Dawn is very active in her local community and has previously been nominated as one of Portsmouth’s ‘Best Neighbours’ for her efforts to encourage recycling. She actively campaigned for new recycling facilities in her local area of Buckingham Green and worked with Portsmouth City Council to survey other local residents about recycling. By securing additional funding the facilities were installed, and now Dawn couldn’t wait to find out more about the waste she couldn’t recycle.
The Portsmouth ERF receives non-recyclable household waste and burns it to produce electricity. Enough electricity is generated from the process to power the equivalent of over a quarter of all the homes in Portsmouth, and can help in reducing our dependency on fossil fuels. By burning the waste instead of sending it to landfill, not only is electricity created, the Hampshire countryside is also preserved. As a result, Hampshire sends a smaller proportion of household waste to landfill than any other county – less than 13%.
The Energy Recovery Facility is part of a network of infrastructure developed to dispose of Hampshire’s waste, by Project Integra, the partnership of all councils in Hampshire and Veolia Environmental Services.
Dawn met Joanna Dixon from Veolia Environmental Services and Spencer Dawson from Portsmouth City Council who explained to her what happens to the waste that can’t be recycled. Dawn said: ‘Wow – it’s opened my eyes to how much waste we make, although it’s good to know that it goes to make electricity in Portsmouth rather than going to a landfill site. I’ve been like a little kid, I’m so amazed by the size of it all.’
Joanna Dixon, Communications and Education Officer for Veolia Environmental Services said: ‘It was a pleasure to meet Dawn to show her what happens to her waste. As an Environmental Services company we recognise the importance of sustainability, and it’s good to think about simple things we can all do to be more eco-friendly, like recycling and conserving energy.’
The innovative nature of the facility makes it a local landmark and has won numerous design awards. Built in partnership with Hampshire County Council, the ERF, along with the neighbouring Materials Recovery Facility are examples of best practice and are helping Hampshire to increase recycling and divert waste away from landfill for the benefit of residents across the county.
If you want to find out more about how you can be environmentally aware please visit http://www.portsmouth.gov.uk/living/301.html.
Contacts
For more information please contact:
Veolia Environmental Services:
Keely Gallagher
0203 567 2918 or 07887 942 754
[email protected]
Or visit www.veoliaenvironmentalservices.co.uk. You can also follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/VeoliaUK.